Estimation of Rumen Microbial Protein Supply Using Urinary Purine Derivatives Excretion in Crossbred Calves Fed at Different Levels of Feed Intake

A study was carried out to study the response of total purine derivatives (PD) excretion in urine to determine microbial N (MN) supply at four fixed levels of feed intake (namely 95, 80, 60 and 40% of voluntary intake). The crossbred (CB) calves were allocated according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin Square Design and fed wheat straw and concentrate (1:1). The rate of PD excretion (mmol/d) as a linear function of feed intake was 15.85/kg DMI and 20.12/kg DOMI. Based on the endogenous and PD excretion rates obtained in this study, a relationship between daily urinary PD excretion (Y, mmol) and daily microbial protein supply (X, mmol) was developed for crossbred calves as Y = 0.83X+0.296 kg $W^{0.75}$. The derived microbial N values using this equation differed (p<0.001) among the 4 groups and was the highest in L-95 followed by L-80, L-60 and L-40. The relationship between urinary nitrogen loss (Y, g/d) and DOMI (X, kg/d) was established as: Y = 6.038X+21.753 ($r^2$ = 0.663, p<0.01). When urinary excretion of PD (Y, mmol/d) was plotted against intake of DM and DOM (X, kg/d), the equations obtained were: Y = 7.1711X+8.674 ($r^2$ = 0.889, p<0.01) and Y = 12.434X+7.683 ($r^2$ = 0.896, p<0.01), respectively. The proportional contribution of allantoin and uric acid to total PD remained stable irrespective of level of feed intake. Similarly, urinary excretion of creatinine did not differ (p>0.05) between animals fed at different levels. The MN supply was the highest to animals at intake levels L-95, and decreased linearly with corresponding decrease in feed intake. However, the MN supply when expressed per kg DOMI remained statistically (p>0.05) similar irrespective of level of intake. The results revealed that the excretion of urinary purine derivatives were positively correlated with the level of feed intake as well as rumen microbial supply and thus it could be a good indicator for measuring the microbial protein supply and nutritional status of animals.